


Recitative Monody

by vegalocity



Series: Oblivion [3]
Category: LEGO Monkie Kid
Genre: Darkfic, Hypnosis, M/M, MK is basically the audience surrogate, Mind Control, and the Me surrogate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:53:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29808000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vegalocity/pseuds/vegalocity
Summary: It had been almost two months before Xiaotian had heard about this. Almost Two. Months. Before he found out that Porty Clone had somehow reared his ugly head again.
Relationships: Qi Xiaotian | MK/Red Son
Series: Oblivion [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2179788
Comments: 11
Kudos: 30





	Recitative Monody

**Author's Note:**

> FINALLY someone responsible shows up
> 
> Not gonna lie this is the most content I've pushed out for any one fandom in such a short time, probably shouldn't expect this with any of my other fics haha

Look, the last time he'd made clones of himself, it had been for a battle. He'd made about a dozen of them, they all turned out just fine, fight alongside him, and were perfectly fine with getting poofed at the end of the fight. That had been that. That was all they were used for, just twelve extra sets of hands. He'd learned his lesson about how unstable his clones would be if left to their own devices. He wasn't going to let them go rogue like last time.

So yeah, when he started hearing rumors about himself along the lines of 'The Monkie Kid moonlighting as a DJ' for some club he'd never heard of before... he was a bit troubled. 

He was still so embarrassed to think back on how haywire his clones had gotten that first time out, Delivery Clone, Artist Clone, and Porty Clone were kind of his three most embarrassing mistakes and he wasn't too fond of reliving any of that misadventure. 

But he had to. Somehow what he'd thought was twelve clones had been thirteen, and number thirteen was Porty Clone again. Somehow. He had no friggin' idea how Porty Clone had even come back at all! He was made at the same time as the battle clones, so why had Porty somehow returned? 

And of course it WOULD be Porty Clone, because no other clone would go rogue and DJ for a dance club anyway. But then there was also the question of why the two college girls he'd heard whispering about it were laughing and sharing the rumor as though it were some happy development. Porty Clone was a fucking maniac the last he'd seen him! Hell, He'd tied up Xiaojiao and hung her above an incinerator inside a giant Crane Game! His antics had gotten him banned from the Antigrav Arcade!

Why were they talking about his most callous clone (not most unhinged, Artist Clone took that crown easily) as though this were a normal thing? As though he were just acting like a normal DJ? That was even more worrying. 

...Was it even Porty Clone? Was it maybe just some musically inclined shapeshifter who decided to use his image to gain credit?

Either way it deserved looking into, and just in case it WAS Porty Clone he didn't want to tell the others what was going on. He'd embarrassed himself over his inability to make clones enough for one lifetime.

So he'd done a little more evesdropping and found out the exact dance club 'The Monkie Kid' had apparently been spotted in. Another place with an antigrav gimmick too. Another point to it being Porty Clone, because if it were simply some shapeshifter they probably wouldn't have the same taste in hangouts.

Great. Somehow, he'd made a completely separate clone under severely different circumstances, and it still ended up being one of the ones that caused a major ruckus. 

So once his shift ended, he took maybe a couple of minutes longer to change out of his work clothes than was usual, could anyone blame him? The last time he'd seen Porty Clone he'd not only threatened to kill Xiaojiao, but he'd had a hoard of the other random clones He'd made that had been apparently easily manipulated into becoming his henchmen. Porty Clone had gone full 'heavily thematic supervillain' last time, he needed to be ready for anything.

And he'd thought he was. He had the staff hidden, but ready to come out at a hair trigger. He had the dismissal move firmly in his head to poof Porty Clone the second he got an opening, and as he strolled up to the dance club, the bouncer had all but confirmed his worst suspicions.

He'd looked down at him imperiously and smirked.

“You're back late.” He stood aside and let him pass, but as he crossed the threshold he could have sworn he heard the bouncer teasingly ask something else.

“Where'd your arm candy sleepwalk off to?”

Well that was distressing.

“Huh?” The bouncer rolled his eyes. 

“No idea? Wow...Keep better tabs on your boytoy or he'll wander into traffic one of these days. 'S fine if ya like 'em ditzy but I ain't gonna be responsible for YOUR airhead getting stabbed outside the side exit because he wasn't paying attention.”

Oh... Oh no....

“Right I'll uh... I'll do that. Sorry man.”

“Whatever.”

Oh nononononono.....

Please let this thing be a shapeshifter, please let it be a shapeshifter, please don't let Porty Clone have gotten a boyfriend he's gonna have to break the heart of when he had to dismiss the clone.

Fuck.

There he was, in all his pink shutter shades and fuzzy coated glory. Too specific an outfit for a shapeshifter. It was Porty Clone.

Which still left the question of how Porty Clone even got summoned as number thirteen of his dozen otherwise just fine clones. He'd file that away to ask Monkey King later though, he doubted Porty Clone was going to be willing to indulge his questions about his creation.

Speaking of, the rogue clone hadn't seen him just yet, so he took a breath to shout, ready to stop the party and GET Porty Clone's attention when another voice cut through the music.

“Xiaotian!” It was practically a chirp in how much excitement laced that tone, almost disguising the familiar voice in how foreign it felt to hear.

And then Red Son tackled him.

Well... 'tackled' was the wrong word. He ran up and slammed into him with his full body weight, but it seemed like he hadn't done so with intent to knock him over and fight him. He'd wrapped his arms around his shoulders and was holding him tight. He was still spitting out strands of loose red hair from where they had somehow ended up in his mouth when the proper word came to him.

Glomp.

Red Son just glomped him.

And... Well needless to say he was... Shocked. Stunned. Unable to process any information past that little tidbit. 

Red Son's head jostled a bit against his shoulder, and another word that sent his brain reeling came to mind.

Nuzzle. Red Son was nuzzling him.

...If his brain could finish processing those two pieces of information so he could actually do something other than stand there and let it happen he'd really appreciate it.

“I'm so happy to see you!” 

“R... Red Son?!” ...slight alteration; if his brain could finish processing enough that he could do more than stand there and stumble over the demon's name while turning about the same shade as the hair that he was still trying to get out of his mouth, that would be nice. “What are you doing here?!” Good enough.

“Hm? Hanging out with you, obviously!” Red Son...nuzzled... him further and when he laughed it was at the very edge of his shirt collar, if he'd turned his head just a little more to the side-

Wait, there was something wrong about that laugh. 

Red Son had an evil cackle every time he'd heard the demon laugh before, a truly unhinged guffaw. So what was up with that low, hazy chuckle? It sounded almost drunken and it made him worried. He glanced up at Porty Clone, and sure enough the clone had long since seen him, watching with that cocky half smirk. 

That meant trouble.

He tugged at Red Son's arms in a silent request to be released. If Porty Clone wasn't still here as a very clear threat he'd almost be tempted to call calabash shenanigans, but no, if Yin and Jin found out about... well about THAT... then yeah they'd be about as blunt, but far more uncanny valley nightmare about it. 

Red Son hadn't let him go, but a hand did remove itself from his shoulders to slide down his back, the act deliberately slow to the point where Xiaotian felt a shiver crawl up his spine and- OKAY HELLO.

So turned out all his brain needed to re-engage was Red Son... RED. SON... Grabbing his butt. He jolted away from the demon whom was SUPPOSEDLY his self proclaimed nemesis, moving fast so he couldn't hold onto him and gripping his shoulders to ensure no further... whatever that was.

“What's gotten into-....You....?” What the flying FUCK was he wearing?!

A crop top. The answer was a crop top. Alongside multiple glow sticks, skinny jeans, striped arm warmers, and shutter sunglasses, not unlike the kind that Porty Clone favor-oh no.

Red Son was here and he didn't know how to shapeshift yet so this was unlikely to be another clone merely brought into Porty Clone's fold to trick him

Oh no...

He was acting severely different and wearing a significantly more risque outfit-

Oh nonononononono...

...Like one of those characters in the cartoons who no one sees much of for a few episodes and then comes back wearing a new outfit because they got captured by an enemy and brainwashed off screen.

“...Red Son?”

“Hey Red!” Porty Clone finally took then to speak, snapping his fingers a few times like a presumptuous jackass at a restaurant. 

Red Son turned to look over at him and he seemed to relax some minute amount in Xiaotian's grip, like he'd forgotten everything else once Porty Clone got his attention.

“What the hell did he do to you?” He muttered to himself, but Porty Clone's voice was far louder.

“Take him to the break room! Bring him up to speed! You know what to do from there!” 

He'd wanted to charge while Red Son was distracted, possibly use him as a springboard to get a little torque and go zipping across the antigrav mat to get at Porty Clone, but apparently his reaction time during events such as _one of his enemies being apparently brainwashed by one of his own clones_ dulled that instinct a bit and he wasn't able to get airborne before Red Son reached up and grabbed his wrists and-with a flash of fire and the heady scent of cloves, he no longer knew where they were.

Now it was just him and Red Son—probably BRAINWASHED Red Son—alone in a...backroom? He could still hear the music thumping so it couldn't be TOO far from the main dance floor, but when he pried Red Son's hands off of his wrists and went to check the door it didn't budge. 

“Dammit!” 

“We lock the breakroom from the outside when it's not being used so people won't try to sneak in for untoward reasons, but since we didn't use the door it didn't get unlocked.”Did he just say 'We' that first time?

And he could break down the door and deal with Porty Clone easily if he wanted to, but...

He needed to know what happened first.

“You work here now?”

Red Son nodded, grinning loose and easy and it looked so unnatural on him. There was no way he was here by his own decision, and if Porty Clone HAD been able to do this to him, then he needed to know how before he could undo it.

“Xiaotian set me up here and it's wonderful!” 

“How long have you been... working here...?”

“Oh not very long! Just about two weeks. But it's been about a month and a half since I first started coming here total.” This peppy voice was getting really fucking weird to listen to.

A month and half, yeah that followed, it was nearing on two months since the battle that Porty Clone was probably made in. So it would have probably taken him a bit of time toget settled here before Red Son had found him.

“How'd you find this place?”

That gave Red Son a bit of pause, he looked away and brought a hand up to the side of his head, brow furrowing slightly.

“I uh...I had a bull clone in the area that spotted Xiaotian here.” He paused again “I think... it's a bit fuzzy.” He gave that quiet sedate chuckle again. “But like who cares right?” He was about to respond 'I care' to get Red Son to keep talking, but then the demon was all up in his space again, effectively cutting off his train of thought. 

“Red Son..?”

“I'm going to seduce you now.”

….

What?

It seemed like his brain was back in the 'refusing to respond' zone because he was unable to react as Red Son backed him up until the backs of his knees bumped up against the edge of a lumpy couch. 

And then he was pushed gently and fell back onto it. 

“Wait- what are you-”

And then Red Son had settled himself in his lap, one hand grounding himself on his shoulder, the other pushing those stupid shutter sunglasses upward until they rested in his hair and he could properly see Red Son's face. 

Was this actually happening? 

What the FUCK was going on?!

Red Son leaned forward again, now nestling his face in the crook of his neck, the gentle puff of air as he breathed him in sent shivers up his spine. 

“I love your scent- He doesn't like to get too close but he said I can do anything I want with you...” His voice was barely audible, more of a vibration on his neck that brought goosebumps up and down his flesh and-

No- bad. Wrong. This isn't consensual; Porty Clone DID this to him.

But he still didn't know how.

“Hey- Hey hang on-” He pushed slightly at Red Son's shoulders to try and pull him off, And though Red Son made a noise of dissent he did dutifully pull away at his words. “I still wanna know more about what brought you here.”

Red Son huffed and rolled his eyes, like this whole thing was a put upon and not literally the only reason he was still back here. 

“Alright Xiaotian, for you, anything.” Please don't just SAY shit like that- “What would you like to know?”

“First off, when did you learn my name and start calling me by it? You haven't said 'Noodle Boy' once since I got here and frankly it's weird.”

He looked surprised at that, like he hadn't even noticed- “Now that you mention it, I guess I haven't thought much about it... it just feels normal now. We're on that level, right? Feels more natural than calling you N-...” a troubled look crossed his face. “No-... Noo-...”his jaw snapped shut with a click. “-That. It doesn't matter, can we talk about something else?”

“...Can you not say 'Noodle Boy' right now?” How the hell was that even POSSIBLE?

“How about we get back to the seducing part of this? I have something I'd like to show you.”

“Wait Red Son, I've still got some stuff I need to figure out, like how did he-”

“That's alright, I don't want to think anymore! You can ask me in a moment, I'm sure it'll be easier without all of...” he gestured with his free hand around his general head area, as if that explained anything. “...This...gunking everything up.”

Okay this was taking a turn, he pushed slightly at Red Son's torso to get him to slide off of him, but he wasn't budging. “What did he do to you?”

But Red Son continued as though he hadn't spoken. “-Besides! I want to show you how good I can be! Xiaotian always talks about how much you'd love to see how good I am at doing this!”

“What do you...?” Red Son was moving again, this time leaning forward again, pressing his forehead against his shoulder, as though preparing for something, his free hand rising up beside his own ear and looking as though ready to snap his fingers.

“Blank, empty, mindless. Obey obey obey.” Snap.

“Blank, empty, mindless. Obey obey obey.” Snap.

“Blank, empty, mindless. Obey obey obey.” Snap-

On the third snap his entire body went lax, arm flopping from beside his ear to hanging at his side. His weight going from resting on his knees on either side of him to properly sitting in his lap—though sitting was a generous term, since he was all but laying in a slightly upright position. Breaths slow and even and looking for all the world like he'd fallen asleep right there.

He'd seen enough cartoons to know what had happened, he'd seen enough 'mind control' episodes in cartoons that went with more of a 'hypnosis' aesthetic, He knew what he just witnessed.

He still panicked.

“Red Son?! Red Son!” he grabbed the demon by the shoulders and pulled him away, having to physically keep him upright else he'd have slid to the ground. Red Son didn't respond, still entirely limp, eyes half shut and staring into nothing as his head lolled about with the jostling.

“Come on man, Say something! Talk!” Those glassy eyes seemed to do their best to focus, sliding over his form and stopping somewhere just over his shoulder. 

His lips parted, and hazily—as though through a cloud of fog—he answered. 

He wished very suddenly, that Red Son hadn't.

“I'm a mindless plaything...”

He'd decided it, right now.

“Mindless playthings obey...”

The shock and fear had passed and were replaced with a fury white hot in his chest.

“Obey... obey....”

He hated Porty Clone with everything he had.

“I belong to Xiaotian-”

“Stop.” Red Son stopped, gaze still distant, words buzzing around in his head that had no business being there.

How dare he- How dare he just DO this to him?!

“Porty-... Xiaotian did this to you?”

“...Yes.”

“How?”

His brow furrowed, like the compulsion to...UGH... obey... was going against lethargy, and he only had so much energy to give to this.

“...There's a song. Makes everything drift away.” Red Son grinned sleepily, as though he'd wanted this. “Always makes blissful oblivion”

Of course it was a song.

“Where did he get this song?”

“There's a record up there.”

“Would you recognize it at a glance?”

“Yes.”

“Is that the only copy?”

“No.” 

“Where are the other copies?”

“On the laptop.”

“...Do you listen to it EVERY night?” Wow did he dread the answer.

“Yes.”

Dread was fighting with anger for the top spot again.

He had to help Red Son, he just HAD to. His clone going rogue was the reason this whole thing happened but-

But was there anything left in there for him to help? If he poofed Porty Clone and broke the record, what if that didn't do anything? What if he tried to walk it back and undo what was done and... there was nothing left for him to reach?

A month and a half of nightly brainwashing... even if he COULD help Red Son back to something more resembling before, would it even be the same Red Son?

Was the passionate, brilliant, opinionated, far more good than he'd ever want to admit Demon gone forever? 

All because HE couldn't make clones right?!

No, That would be unacceptable. He WOULD figure out how to help Red Son, he'd bring back the demon he knew, even if that meant Red Son would be so furious with him until the end of time he'd double down on the villainy and never help them with any 'enemy of my enemy' things again.

But for now he needed to make sure Porty Clone couldn't use him against him.

“Stand up Red Son.” Slowly, Red Son slid off of him and got to his feet, and he followed to continue to be at eye level with him.

Oh man is this gonna feel gross.... 

“You said you belong to 'Xiaotian' Do you just mean the one who works here? Or do you mean like... 'All of us'?”

There was a small pause, and he was worried that was too word-y a question but Red Son answered.

“I'm a gift for Xiaotian in the baggy coat.”

His jacket suddenly felt very very heavy around his shoulders.

“You're a 'gift'... For... Me?”

Red Son's unfocused gaze slid across his jacket, as if judging if it was 'baggy' enough before responding “Yes.”

“So then... you...” He bit back a gag. “You belong to me?”

He felt so gross just saying that, he REALLY was gonna need to shower after this.

“I belong to you.” that same sleepy grin wound its way across Red Son's face and this. Was. SO. Not. Cool.

“Okay cool.” Not cool. “I'm uh... I'm glad?” He was so fucking angry. “I'm gonna go... thank... Por- Other Xiaotian... for... setting this up.” For BRAINWASHING HIM into the idea that he could 'belong' to someone, as though he were some sort of... ITEM that could be owned. 

For putting him in a place where he'd decided he'd RATHER be put into a considerably more vulnerable mindset instead of THINKING too hard about things. 

For taking someone as brilliant and firey and PASSIONATE as Red Son and turning him into some kind of lazily amorous zombie that seemed to only want to follow orders given to him with no input or drive of his own.

For daring to assume that he could just DO all of that to Red Son and then just GIVE him to him like he was a bargaining chip. Like _'Here have this brainwashed villain who's now basically your mindslave and will give you all those cuddles and junk you secretly fantasize about without any of what made you like him in the first place, you're welcome'_

“Stay here, and don't leave until I come in to get you. Okay?”

“...Okay.”

He'd apologize to Red Son for bossing him around 'till he was blue in the face when he was lucid again. 

But right now he had to go kill a clone—No fancy words this time to pretend he wasn't destroying a sentient being—not dismiss, or poof him, no no, not after THIS. Porty Clone is DYING tonight.

He broke down the door with a sharp kick and Red Son didn't even flinch at the noise. He was watching him leave, all of those things he'd said when he'd simply asked him to 'say something' probably still floating around on repeat in his head.

Oh Porty Clone was going DOWN.

“Hey Heyyyy Classic Xiaotian!” And of course the break room was close to the DJ podium, Porty Clone grinned with those sharp teeth and leaned backward with a hand on the turntable keeping him from falling. “How's the boytoy? Need a cheat sheet for all'a those commands so ya don't have to keep asking him to rattle 'em off?”

He sounded so Smug too, like he was PROUD of himself for it.

“It wasn't easy to get him like this! You know how many HOURS of portying I've sacrificed to make him a perfect little toy for you? So what say you I hand over the commands I've got for him, and the notes I've gleaned so he can be nice and happy in his little airhead bubble, and we part ways as unlikely friends?”

“You. Are. DISGUSTING.” He stalked up to the podium, and thankfully didn't have to time it right to cross the antigrav mat. Though some dancers did seem to realize what was going on in relation to himself and Porty Clone as they quickly started to vacate the dance floor and get ready to leave.

“Whaaat? Is that the thanks I get for making your crush actually boyfriend material? He was a gift! For you!”

“Yeah, I know. He told me what you've done to him.” He cleared the podium and Porty Clone gave a sharp whistle, some unknown security guard or two began to come forward, but he was closer.

“With his consent!” It seemed like it had finally sunk in to Porty Clone that he wasn't exactly thrilled. 

“He can't GIVE consent, you BRAINWASHED him! ”

“He loves you, you know! Even before all of this! He said it and I asked him how long and he said for months! And that was weeks ago!”

“Like I could believe ANYTHING you tell me!” 

“You're not thinking about the possibilities here Classic Model! You've had a thing for him for HOW long now? He'll do basically anything you want him too! Hell, at this point you could probably convince him to ditch his parents and join your side for realsies! And that's not even MENTIONING all the bedroom related shit you can-”

“You shut your fucking mouth!” That was enough banter for one lifetime. He rushed forward, the dismissal move at the ready-

When a pair of arms wrapped around him, pinning his arms to his sides. 

“THANK You, Good Boy Red.”

Red Son's chin was resting on his shoulder for only a moment before he turned his head and nuzzled himself into his hair.

“Your hair is so soft I wanna bury myself in it and never come out...” he muttered sleepily against the back of his head. 

“...I thought you said he was a gift for me so why-”

“Now if you had a cheatsheet for all the helpful little things boppin' around in his brain right now you'd know exactly why! He's still belongs to you of course, but he LISTENS to me too. Isn't that right Red?”

“Yes.”

“Good boy! You know what I think might help your new owner here get waayyy more stoked about owning you? Testing out this new track I've been working on. 'S a little difficult since I'm a clone and we're still not overly sure just HOW human Xiaotian still now that all that Monkey Magic is nice and well integrated in his system, but Hey! Red Son you LOVE Oblivion don't you?”

“It's the best...” Red Son sighed practically directly into his ear. 

“Wouldn't it be nice if your owner knew how great it was too?”

Red Son took in a gasp and his arms tightened around his chest, he couldn't do anything more than wiggle about in his attempts to escape now.

“Yes! You'll love it Xiaotian! Everything fades away and the world goes fuzzy and you feel so peaceful! Like the rest of the world stops existing and you feel so content there's nothing else you CAN feel! And it feels so great to do what you're told all you want is to just keep obeying!” 

That was literally the most passionate he'd heard Red Son get since he got here and it was in favor of getting brainwashed.

He couldn't move, He didn't know how to shapeshift yet, and nobody knew he was here.

He was fucked.

“Great! Gonna have to let him borrow these then!” He started kicking when Porty Clone got close, but the damn bastard slipped right around the two of them so he didn't have the angle anymore. 

There was a shuffle and he was pretty sure it was Porty Clone removing those bulky headphones from off of Red Son—and sure enough they switched to slide over his head. 

He bucked and thrashed with as much as he could, but apparently Red Son really HAD been holding back when they usually fight because he couldn't get free.

“You know all those things I like to tell you when your silly demon hangups get in the way, Red? You might wanna tell him some of those-” He shifted the headphones a bit, so that the ear closest to Red Son's head was partially uncovered.

Why wasn't anyone looking at this and seeing something wrong?! Were all the people here so used to the idea from Red Son's being here for half a fucking month that this doesn't even process as weird anymore? He kicked at Porty Clone but he continued to evade his reach as he slipped back to the turntables and took out a beaten up looking laptop. 

“Just relax Classic Model, it'll all be better soon.” he looked through the playlist or whatever for a moment before hitting the spacebar and-

“LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR THIS LALALALALALALALALAAA” He thrashed as much as he could, loudly trying to tune out the thrumming bass and the weak melody in his ears, and it must have been working since he didn't immediately pass out.

“Red, Shut him up.”

One arm shifted around his center, still holding him too tight to move, but a hand reaching up to clap over his mouth. He tried to keep shouting around the hand, but the sound was far weaker when the volume on the headphones cranked up.

He could feel it now, the bass vibrating through his head, trying to dig right in and scoop out all of his agency, and wash away his thoughts and feelings and leave no room for anything but that oblivion shit Red Son kept talking about. 

He had to focus, he couldn't be taken in, he had to keep thinking and not let it gain even a foothold. 

Red Son's breath was hot against his ear.

“Stop fighting, it's okay to let go.” He thrashed in his grip, and dammit this was NOT how the 'Red Son whispering into his ear' fantasy was allowed to be made real.

“You'll love it. No more fear, no more anxiety, no more thinking at all. It's so nice to let someone else take control, I promise.”

No No No it wasn't happening he REFUSED to let this happen.

“Come on Xiaotian, just sleep for me.” The hand covering his mouth moved away to hover a few inches above his face.

“Sleep...” Red Son snapped his fingers-

-....And nothing happened.

He froze, gaze on the floor, as it processed... It wasn't working... It wasn't working!

“Sleep... come on, I know you can do it.” Red Son snapped his fingers again, this time his other hand shifting slightly to rub his upper arm with a thumb. 

Yes! He knew it! There was no way Porty Clone could actually outsmart him THAT well! 

An idea hit him with all the force of a brick to the face.

Red Son nuzzled himself further into the side of his head. “Just give in Xiaotian it's alright, I'll be right here for you. I love you.”

He felt sick.

“Just take a deep breath and- Sleep.” Red Son snapped his fingers again, and this time he let himself go limp and sighed audibly. Red Son's quickly shifted grip on his torso being the only thing keeping him from falling, he forced himself to go as slack as he possibly could, drooping his head down to hit his chest. 

He could only see Porty Clone's shoes now as he stepped closer. The clone's cold hand gripped his chin and he did his best to mimic the look on Red Son's face when he'd seen him going under earlier. Distant and numb, eyes half lidded and staring into nothing. He did his best not to focus on anything, and let his eyes stay in the same place, as Porty Clone looked him up and down.

“Well slap my ass and call me a rave slut, that actually worked! I half expected him to bite me right there!” Oh he was tempted...

“-Should test it out first though. Xiaotian, stand.” he put weight back onto his legs. “Alright alright alright. Uhhh Take out the staff!” Wow Porty Clone was willing to let him arm himself? Overconfident much? He took out the staff.

“Nice! Nice! Uuuhhhh I got nothing, Red, you got anything you want outta him?”

“...I want to obey him. And belong to him, and be taken home and shown off to his friends as his plaything and drift off while surrounded by his other things and- ” Wow was that rage not leaving any time soon....

“-I get it I get it. Stupid question- Uhhhh Xiaotian order Red Son toooo...kiss you. Might as well get a show out of this.”

...What an asshole.

“...” UGH this was so GROSS he felt like such a slimeball “...Kiss me, Red Son.” An absolute skeez he had SO much to apologize for once Red Son's brain was his own again.

“Yes Xiaotian.” Red Son sighed, it was as though he were waiting for years to say that for all the longing there was in those two words. 

But then, oh then, Red Son's arms loosened around his chest so he could spin him around to obey that particular order. 

And he had his opening.

The staff was still out so he was able to use it as a bar and shove Red Son off of him once they were face to face, another thing to apologize for as he landed pretty hard off the podium. But that didn't matter at the moment, as he rounded on a stunned Porty Clone.

“Your demo reel sucks. And you're a perverted fuck.”

The dismissal move was maybe a BIT more forceful than it should have been, but he wanted this clone gone like... a month and a half ago.

The golden light flooded through the dance club for a moment and Porty Clone sighed. 

“Should have just kept him a bodyguard... what a waste of time.”

The explosion of sparkles and the hair Porty Clone had been made from was so much less satisfying than it should have been.

He ripped those stupid headphones off his head, and for just a smidgen of relief against the broiling rage still working through his gut he stomped hard on those ugly pink shutter shades, feeling them splinter and shatter beneath his sneaker.

He leaned into the microphone.

“Your DJ was a clone gone rogue, Party's over.”

He heard some noises of discontent, and he was sure if he didn't leave soon he'd have an irate employee body all over him demanding recompense for destroying their DJ, but whatever. He didn't care. He didn't give a single shit. 

He began to flip through the records in the holder, looking for something that was probably weird looking enough to maybe be a secret mind control record, There were some foreign titles with cover images he vaguely recognized, bands that would have been contemporaries with his bio-parents, Bands that would have been contemporaries with his GRANDparents....

Well that one looked creepy. The container was well worn on the edge, and it was another foreign title (probably, assuming those were even CHARACTERS on the cover) but it was hidden in the far back of the rack, as though hiding from prying eyes.

He pulled the offending record out and turned it over. There was a bit of recognizable script on the back, a little disclaimer on the bottom 

“Side A should be used sparingly as effects are only temporary, Side B will not work without the subjects permission”

Yeah probably the mind control record. Though he should double check before he broke the damn thing and added 'yet more property damage' onto the list of reasons the employees here would probably ban him from the club (he wouldn't have ever come back here anyway) 

He shifted so the record would be under his arm and dropped from the podium, now where had Red Son ran off to-

Ah! there was that mess of red hair...His hair was so weird when down, it was still trying to raise into that updo he normally had, but only his forelock...bangs....thing and the tips of his hair were willing to put in the effort, giving every little bundle of hair a sort of 'ski jump' type of slope.

He was curled up sitting in a pretty soft looking seat, his gaze firmly on his knees. 

Okay, time to focus on what mattered.

“Red Son?” He flinched at his approach. He was upset, clearly probably at the loss of Porty clone. Did he have the time to help him through it?

He'd frankly rather leave first, he wasn't sure if he was comfortable returning Red Son to his parents with his brain as messed with as it had been. 

Had he even been going home? Were his parents out looking for him and had just yet to cause a ruckus about it or considered he might be here?

...Yeah he wasn't comfortable with sending him to his parents with a 'hey your son got brainwashed, here straighten him out' card tied around his neck. 

“Is this the record?”

He offered it to Red Son, whom looked up for only a moment, just long enough to take the offered record from him and take a look at the disc inside. “Yes.”

“Good. Look up please? I want you to see this.”

Red Son should never look that meek. He should be rolling his eyes and looking up for only a moment to call him presumptuous and foolish to think he'd do anything he asked maybe with a 'peasant' thrown in there for good measure. He shouldn't be holding his shoulders tight like a child expecting to be scolded but still compelled to do as asked.

“The Xiaotian you've been meeting here was a fake. A clone that went haywire and escaped before I knew he existed.” He paused, giving Red Son a moment to process the information, and at the demon's sight nod of comprehension he continued.

“So let me remind you-” He took the record back and slid it out of its sheath. “This thing? Is just a little piece of vinyl. It doesn't deserve to have any sort of power over you. You're Red Son! The son of the friggin' Demon Bull King! No one should be allowed to tell you what to do!” This wasn't working, if anything Red Son looked WORSE from his little pep talk. Still looking at him, but he'd gone from gloomy to miserable.

“You don't need to be beholden to whatever that clone put in your head! So- So I'm not gonna let this thing warp your brain anymore!” he gripped the record in either hand, ready to snap it in half.“You're gonna think for yourself again and No one can ever tell you what to do from here on ou-” a sob cut him off.

A. Sob.

His blood turned to ice when he glanced back at Red Son, and sure enough the demon had his hands clasped over his mouth, eyes trained on the record in his hands, and shoulders shaking with an attempt to contain his hitching breath, tears leaking from his eyes like his heart was about to be broken into bits. 

Oh gods, he'd just made Red Son cry.

“Oh no Nononononono please stop crying-” he dropped to his knee, now he was looking up at him, raw panic immediately undercutting any point he was building up toward. 

The record slipped from his hand and clattered harmlessly on the floor, Red Son flinched as though he himself had been struck. He grabbed the demon as gently as he could by his upper arms and squeezed in a way that he hoped would be comforting “Red Son, come on talk to me man-”

“I'm sorry!” 

“Wait don't-”

“I know I belong to you and I shouldn't have listened to him after he gave me to you fully- and- and then I was so excited at the idea of you getting to experience oblivion and I didn't even THINK that it wouldn't work and then I couldn't even follow ONE order-”

“Red Son hold on-” Crap could he even HEAR him right now?

“-And I know I screwed up and I don't DESERVE oblivion right now but please don't take it away! I'm sorry I'm SO sorry!”

“Red! I- I'm not gonna break it!” He couldn't do this if all it'd do was hurt the victim of the damn thing even more. “I.... maybe it'll be more useful in one piece! I can give it to Mr. Tang and we can figure out how to fix you up without breaking anything! Please stop crying!” His OWN eyes were starting to sting from a mix of panic, guilt, and the fact that he already was a sympathy crier.

Red Son sniffled, and reached out until he was gripping at the lapels of his jacket. 

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...I'll never take anyone else's orders again, I swear. I belong to you. Only to you. I love you.” 

...This wasn't going to be as easy as just telling him to forget everything Porty Clone did to him, was it? He wasn't sure how many more times he could stomach hearing all of this 'mindslave' shit before he'd burst into hysterics himself. He hadn't even DONE any of it, but it was HIS clone that had and gods it felt so DISGUSTING.

He tugged Red Son in close, shifting his grip to properly hug the demon. Red Son leaned forward until his forehead rested on his shoulder.

“We're gonna fix you up, Red. I promise.” The nickname felt weird on his tongue, too familiar, too unearned, but Red Son relaxed in his grip, and burrowed himself into his jacket.

They needed to figure out how to fix this. He was GOING to figure out how to fix this. He wouldn't let Red Son down again.

“Come on, We should- we should head back to my place. I'm gonna have to explain a LOT of stuff to the others.”

Red Son nuzzled into his shoulder “I love you, Xiaotian.” No he didn't.

He hated Porty Clone SO much for using Red Son to mess with his emotions like this.

He hugged the demon just a bit tighter, because he was apparently a weak man.

**Author's Note:**

> You guys have no idea how tempted I was to have this fic end Full Darkfic style and have Porty just fukkin WIN, but I feel like you guys might have killed me if Red Son didn't get properly rescued lol
> 
> EDIT: GUYS GUYS THIS SERIES HAS FANART NOW [EVERYONE GO LOOK AT THIS AWESOME THING PURBLE-TURBLE DREW](https://purble-turble.tumblr.com/post/644966694380519424/art-for-the-fanfiction-series-oblivion-by)
> 
> EDIT 2: GUYS GUYS GUYS [ GO LOOK AT THIS THING TANNIASAURUS DREW](https://tanniasaurus.tumblr.com/post/645319675940667393/fanart-of-vegalocity-s-fanfic-oblivion-there)


End file.
